Per Mertesacker is entrusted with the job of collecting fines from Arsenal players in breach of club discipline but the German may find himself going cap in hand to manager Arsene Wenger for his place in the team.

The Gwladys Street Endroared in approval at the first glimpse of their new supremo Roberto Martinez,but you sense the latest remarks from his predecessor were the key reasons forsuch vehement support throughout this frustrating stalemate.

Everton’s football was
tidy at times here but a goalless draw with a dogged West Brom team, after a
draw at Norwich last week, hardly represents a blistering start for the
Spaniard.

Yet in dismissively
rebuffing the ‘derisory and insulting’ £28m approach from David Moyes for
Leighton Baines and Marouane Feillaini, Everton and Martinez provided fans with
a satisfactorily dismissive reaction to Manchester United’s attempt to prise
away the key duo.

Moyes’ hypocrisy in
insisting he would have recommended both leave to further their careers – given
his anger at Manchester City’s pursuit of Joleon Lescott a few summers ago –
and his startlingly low valuation of the pair has sadly tarnished the 11-year
bond established between the Scot and Evertonians.

Martinez provided a
loaded response to Moyes’ comments after the match.

“It [United’s bid] has
been a bit of a farce,” he said. “When you put in a bid below what the other
team spent, you expect it to be rejected.

“My feeling is you
should never talk about players who belong to other teams. We would be a bit
more respectful than that.”

Everton had by far the
better of both a turgid opening period and a frantic second-half, but were
unable to find the crucial final touch to give Martinez a perfect Goodison
start.

If the heads of Baines
and Feillani, who both started here, have been turned by United’s interest,
neither showed it.

Admittedly both were
largely peripheral figures, but the Belgian once more displayed his knack of
finding space in crowded penalty areas when Phil Jagielka’s cross-field ball
found him just six yards out with eight minutes left. His prodded shot
rebounded agonisingly off the far post.

A point at Goodison constitutes
a good return for Albion, but with Nicolas Anelka’s future unclear following
the death of his agent, finding someone to replace Romelu Lukaku’s 17 Premier
League goals last season poses a stark problem for Steve Clarke.

“Nicolas had been
injured anyway so our preparation was not too disrupted and there’s been no
change [to his situation] that I’m aware of,” said Clarke.

“It would be nice to
bring one or two more players, but I think the group we have showed today that
we already have a strong Premier League team.”

Mirallas seemed to spark
Everton into life just after the half hour, Foster tipping over a rasping
effort over from the Belgian.

Nicica Jelavic
agonisingly missed his kick from six yards out soon after, before industrious
full-back Seamus Coleman intelligently cut inside and nearly beat Foster at his
near post.

Everton’s tempo was
markedly raised in the second half, with Feillani denied at point-blank range
by Foster after Barkley’s initial shot had been saved.

With the game finally
more stretched, Morrison tested Tim Howard – who first came to the Premier
League 10 years this month – with a firm shot after a one-two with Shane Long.

Albion lost Ben Foster
to an ankle injury late on but substitute Luke Daniels kept Everton at bay, as
Fellaini hit the post and had a header cleared off the line to deny Martinez a
perfect Goodison start.